Weaving template receptacle



Sept. "29, 1970 J. E, GICK I WEAVING TEMPLATE RECEPIACLE Filed March 25, 1968 123m 6.

v .i- 25 L25 Iv VEN "roe J QME E. G/cz Patented Sept. 29, 1970 3,530,558 WEAVING TEMPLATE RECEPTACLE James E. Gick, Inglewood, Calif., assignor to Hazel Pearson Handicrafts, Inc., Rosemead, Califi, a corporation of California Filed Mar. 25, 1968, Ser. No. 715,594 Int. Cl. D03d 29/00 US. Cl. 28-15 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A body of lightweight substantially rigid material having the shape of an inverted cup provided with a tubular hub having a bore, and a cover manually attachable to and detachable from the lower edge of the cup sidewall, the lower edge of the hub contacting the cover along a circular line of contact; the cover has an annular outer rim and a central web portion offset upwardly from the rim, and may be provided with a hole in alignment with the hub bore. The upper base of the body constitutes a working board and has formed therein openings arranged in a spoked pattern, each opening communicating with the upper end of a tapered bore formed in a sleeve integrally formed with the working board and projecting downwardly therefrom. There are provided a plurality of pegs, each having a tapered shank portion frictionally retainable in the sleeve bore. The cover, when assembled with the body, forms therewith a storage compartment or receptacle for loosely housing unused pegs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A popular type of artistic handicraft involves the weaving of decorative objects such as artificial flowers, using elongated strip materials as yarn, straw-like fibrous material, raffia, sisal hemp or the like. The material used may be of any of many colors to achieve desired artistic effects. Weaving of these objects is accomplished using a board or form constituting a template, and having a number of projections around which the material may be stretched, looped or otherwise led in order to create the intended artistic eifect. Provision should be made in such a template board to permit the operator to sew the central part of the design, and perhaps other parts, before removing it from the template, in order to permanently retain the component strands in their correct locations relative to other strands forming the complete design. Conventional devices having fixed projections provide only limited flexibility of artistic expression, and it is frequently difiicult to perform the final sewing operation and to remove the finished design from the template.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device to facilitate Weaving artistic items of yarn or similar flexible strip material, and includes a working board having a plurality of openings formed therein disposed in accordance with a predetermined pattern, together with a plurality of pegs, each having a shank portion receivable in one of the openings and a cylindrical portion projecting above the surface of the board, the board being further provided with a tubular hub having a bore of substantially larger size than the individual openings for receiving the peg shanks. Preferably the board constitutes the top of a body constituting an inverted cup-like object, the body including a peripheral sidewall extending downwardly from the working board and terminating in a lower circular edge, and the hub similarly terminates downwardly in a circular edge. A removable cover is provided for selectively closing the lower portion of the body, whereby to define an annular storage compartment for unused pegs, needles and other accessories used with the device.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel weaving template receptacle havmg provision for arranging a plurality of pegs in a desired pattern for Weaving artistic objects using yarn or similar material to be looped around the pegs. Other objects and purposes of the invention are to provide, in such a device, a working board having a plurality of openings formed therein in a spoked pattern constituting a set of concentric circles, disposed about an enlarged central bore substantially larger than the individual openings forming the pattern; to provide, in such a device, a storage compartment or receptacle for unused pegs, needles and other accessories beneath the working board; to provide, in such a device, a plurality of socketed sleeves having tapered bores formed therein, each immediately beneath one of the patterned openings in the board, for receiving complementarily tapered shanks of pegs forming the template for a desired design; and for other and additional objects and purposes as will be understood from a reading of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a device in accordance with the present invention with no pegs in operative positron.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on arrows II-Il of FIG. 1, with the lower cover shown in place and with several unused pegs housed loosely in the receptacle.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view with one peg shown in operative position in a tapered sleeve bore.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the template receptacle with pegs shown in operative position in the outermost circular set of openings, and with a portion of yarn or the like for making an artificial flo wer in place, shortly after the beginning of the fiower-making operation.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a template receptacle in accordance with the invention, showing a typical completed artificial flower made on the device of the present invention, prior to being removed from the template for subsequent use.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing a modified cover having a hole formed in its central web.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a body made of lightweight material of little if any flexibility and having the general shape of an inverted cup provided with a central tubular hub having a bore, together with a lower cover manually attachable to and detachable from the lower edge of the body sidewall, and serving to enclose the annular portion of the body. More specifically, and as best appears in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inverted cup-shaped body is indicated generally at 10 and includes a generally flat base or working board 11 defined outwardly by a depending annular sidewall 12 terminating downwardly in a lower annular edge 14. The sidewall 12 is desirably provided, adjacent its lower edge 14, with an outwardly extending enlarged bead 15, forming an upwardly directed annular shoulder 16.

As best appears in FIG. 2, a cover indicated generally at 20 underlies body 10, and includes an upwardly extending annular sidewall 22 which is frictionally and resiliently engageable with the outer lower surface of sidewall 12 of body 10. The material of cover 20 desirably has substantial resilience and flexibility, so that its sidewall 22 is retained in the position seen in FIG. 2, but can be easily removed from such position by the user without the use of tools. The lower portion of sidewall 22 is desirably reduced in section at 23, in order to accommodate the outwardly extending bead 15. The major portion of cover comprises a central web 25, desirably offset upwardly from the plane of the peripheral annular rim 26 and joined to the rim by annular shoulder 27. Thus the device rests in a stable manner on a supporting surface in the plane 28 of the rim, even though the web may be bowed downwardly into a somewhat arcuate contour as shown for reasons appearing hereinafter.

Body 10 is further provided with a tubular hub indicated generally at 30 projecting downwardly from working board 11 and spaced inwardly from sidewall 12. Hub 30 has an integrally formed sidewall 31 defining a cylindrical bore 32 which is desirably virtually concentric with the annular sidewall 12 of the body.

Working board 11, constituting the base of the body 10, is annular in shape and desirably virtually flat. Formed in the annular working board are a number of openings, each communicating with the upper end of a tapered bore formed in a sleeve integral with the body 10 and extending downwardly from the working board. In accordance with the invention, each of the tapered borcs is adapted to receive and frictionally retain the lower tapered shank portion of a longitudinal extending peg.

Thus, with reference to FIG. 1, a number of openings are formed in the working board 11, and are preferably arranged, as shown, in a spoked pattern. Thus the openings 40 as seen in FIG. 1 are arranged in four concentric circles, and are there identified, beginning with the circle of smallest radius, by the letters A, B, C, and D. In the present embodiment of the invention, there are twelve openings in each of the four circles.

One of the openings 40, specifically identified as 41, is at the upper end of a bore formed in a sleeve indicated generally at 42 and seen in enlarged detail in FIG. 3. Within sleeve 42 there is formed a bore 44, the bore being tapered such that its sidewall is dOwnWardly convergent from the opening 41 at the upper end of the sleeve. A longitudinal extending peg, indicated generally at 50, includes an upper cylindrical portion 51 and a lower shank 52 having a tapered configuration corresponding to that of the tapered bore 44. Thus the peg is removably supported in the position seen in FIG. 3, with its tapered shank 52 frictionally gripped by the bore 44.

It will be understood that a complete equipment in accordance with the present invention contemplates the provision of the same number of pegs 50 as the number of tapered bores formed in sleeves in the body 10. However, the user may wish to form a design using fewer than all of the pegs. Those not in active use may be loosely housed as seen in FIG. 2.

Use of the present device will be understood by ref erence to FIGS. 4 and 5 showing respectively the commencement of a comparatively simple weaving operation and the completion of a more complex operation. For simplicity of present explanation, it may be assumed that an artificial fiower is to be fashioned out of yarn on the present template. As appears in FIG. 4, the operator first places a peg in each of the openings in the outermost circle of the working board, there accordingly then being twelve such pegs 50 equally angularly spaced near the periphery of the working board. A length of yarn indicated generally at is used, and one end 61 of the yarn is temporarily attached to the body of the device as by adhesive tape 62 or the like, near one of the pegs. The yarn 60 is then stretched generally diametrically across the body and looped around the opposite peg. Weaving continues, with an angular step corresponding to the space between two adjacent pegs during each crossing of the body diameter with the yarn. Six such generally diametrical crossings are illustratively shown in FIG. 4, and it will be understood that the weaving process may continue in this manner as the artistic desire of the user suggests. Upon completion of the desired artificial flower or the like, the central portions of the yarn are retained in assembled relationship by suitable means, such as by being sewn together by conventional needle and thread (not shown). The finished design then may be removed from the template, typically by first removing the pegs around which the yarn is looped.

In FIG. 5 is shown a somewhat more elaborate design including the looping of one or more turns of yarn over each of a total of forty-eight pegs. As in the case described in connection with FIG. 4, the final step in the process is to connect together in assembled relation central portions of each of the loops of the yarn or the material used in the fabrication, as by needle and thread or similar means. Thus in FIG. 5, in the central portion of the design, a number of sewn threads are indicated generally at 70 in criss-cross relationship, representing the upper, visible portions of thread loops extending around and binding together the central portions of the yarn forming the design. In order to sew these threads and thus to retain the design in assembled relation, the user inserts a needle downwardly into the central bore 30 of the body in such a way that the point of the needle may be brought back upwardly to complete the sewing loop. This may be done, for example, by the use of a curved or hooked needle, particularly when the depth and diameter of the tubular bore 32 are sufficient to permit such maneuvering of the needle. However, it will frequently be found to be more convenient for the operator to use a straight needle, passing it downwardly completely through the depth of the tubular bore 32. Under some conditions, especially with simple designs having few yarn crossings, the user may be able to pass the needle under the yarn crossings in the plane of the working board 11, and the central bore 32 could be eliminated. However, the presence of the bore afiords much greater flexibility in type and complexity of designs, and in techniques of sewing or otherwise binding the yarn into permanent assembled relation.

The tubular hub 31 terminates downwardly in a circular lower edge 33 which contacts the central flat portion 25 of cover 20 along a circular line of contact. For reliability of forming the annular receptacle in accordance with the present invention and preventing pegs 50 from being lost, it may be desirable that the cover central web 25 be under at least a slight amount of tension by reason of contact with the lower edge 33 of the hub. Thus, as seen in FIG. 2, the cover 20 is provided with an outer annular rim 26 and, immediately inwardly thereof, an offset shoulder 27, whereby the central web 25 is spaced appreciably above the plane 28 of a supporting surface such as a table or the like, on which the annular rim 26 rests. Reliability of the contact between lower edge 33 and web 25 may be enhanced when the hub extends downwardly sufiiciently that, when cover 30 is assembled to the body as seen in FIG. 2, web 25 is depressed slightly downwardly from its normal planar configuration and assumes an upwardly concave contour. Within the annular receptacle thus formed may be disposed one or more unused pegs indicated generally at 50.

For greater flexibility of the final sewing process in use of the present device, it may be desirable to provide an opening centrally of the major flat portion 25 of cover 20. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 6, wherein a hole 29 is formed as by die cutting or the like in the cover web 25, the hole 29 being in substantial alignment with the bore 32 of hub 30. It will be understood that the provision of the hole 29 permits the user, in performing the final sewing operation, to pass a needle completely through the depth of the body of the present device, without removing the cover therefrom.

It will be understood that minor modifications and variations from the particular illustrative forms of the invention hereinabove shown and described may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

peripheral sidewall depending therefrom and terminating in a lower annular edge, the working board having formed therein a plurality of peg receiving openings arranged in a predetermined pattern,

a removable cover of resilient material having a central web and, integrally formed therewith, a continuous peripheral sidewall extending upwardly from the central web, said web adapted to underlie the body with the cover sidewall engaging said lower annular edge to form a receptacle, said cover sidewall adapted to engage the board sidewall edge for manual attachment thereto and manual detachment therefrom, the resilience of said cover maintaining the attachment between said cover and said body until manually detached, regardless of movement of the body and cover during weaving, and

a plurality of pegs, loosely housable in said receptacle,

each peg including a lower shank portion frictionally receivable in one of said working board openings to position the peg projecting upwardly from the surface of the working board for receiving therearound elongated strips during the weaving thereof into a decorative and artistic pattern.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein the body includes a centrally disposed tubular hub having a bore through, the hub projecting downwardly from the working board to be contacted by the central web of the cover when attached to the body, the resilience of said cover maintaining contact between the web thereof and the lower end of the hub.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein the cover web has formed centrally thereof a hole of corresponding size and in alignment with the bore of the hub whereby to provide, While the cover is attached to the body, access to the underside of elongated strips extending across the bore.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein each opening in the working board is provided with a tubular boss projecting downwardly from the working board, each boss containing a peg receiving bore in alignment with the opening to recevie the shank of a peg, said shank extending through both the opening in the working board and the bore in the boss.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4 wherein the bores of the bosses and the peg shanks are complementarily tapered.

References Cited LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

